Sixth grader Ina definitely doesn’t fit in with her fellow sixth graders: she lives in the worst possible apartments in her school district; her mother is suffering from depression and has lost her job; the family is having financial difficulties; Ina’s got some obsessive-compulsive problems in that she counts everything; plus she’s shy and geeky.
During the last class of the year, their teacher asks what they’ll be doing over the summer break. All Ina’s classmates are traveling to Spain, Portugal, etc. When her turn comes, she announces that she’s going to the “tropics.” Her lie grows when she copies images from a tropical resort’s website and posts them on social media.
Wilmer, a boy who’ll be joining Ina’s seventh grade in the fall, is also present on the last day and introduces himself. It turns out he lives in the same apartments as Ina, but she avoids him because he isn’t cool. When the two finally get together, they are amazingly creative and make a previously boring summer fun by building their own little paradise in a vacant apartment.
Marianne Kaurin is an award-winning children’s author. Our Own Little Paradise is a low-key, believable story about friendship, making the most of what you have, first love, and the ills of social media. It tackles serious topics: wanting to fit in, who we want to be friends with, disparate social classes, and the struggle to fit in. It takes place over one summer, so it’s fast-paced. It is perfect for fourth through sixth graders.
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Our Own Little Paradise (Arctis, April 12, 2022) is available through:
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